China may be chasing impossible dream by trying to harness internet algorithms

China’s powerful cyberspace regulator has taken the first step in a pioneering—and uncertain—government effort to rein in the automated systems that shape the internet. Earlier this month, the Cyberspace Administration of China published summaries of 30 core algorithms belonging to two dozen of the country’s most influential internet companies, including TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd., e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., owner of China’s ubiquitous WeChat super app. The full filings, which aren’t public, contain more-extensive descriptions of the data and algorithms, some of it considered confidential business information, people familiar with the submissions said. Beijing’s interest in regulating algorithms started in 2020, after TikTok sought an American buyer to avoid being banned in the U.S., according to people familiar with the government’s thinking. The Cyberspace Administration of China moved swiftly to draft a new regulation on algorithmic recommendation systems, seeking in particular to understand how the country’s tech companies shape online discourse and how to curb that influence, people familiar said.